Latvia begins senior NATO officer staff exercises

Monday, September 11, 2017 9:00:43 AM

On Sunday, September 10, the Steadfast Pyramid 2017 and Steadfast Pinnacle 2017 exercises for the senior and high ranking NATO staff began at the National Defense Academy of Latvia in Riga. The exercises involve more than 40 officers from alliance member states and partner states – Finland and Sweden, the internet portal tv.net reports.

The goal of the exercises is to improve the commanders’ and high-ranking officers’ ability to plan and lead joint operations.

Steadfast Pyramid 2017 will be the first part of the exercises, and will last until Friday, September 15. The second part of the exercises, Steadfast Pinnacle 2017, will take place from 17-22 September.

The Steadfast Pyramid and Steadfast Pinnacle exercises have been held in Latvia since 2011, and will continue to be hosted in the country until 2018.

Earlier, a representative of the US National Security Council said that joint American-Finnish exercises would be held in the Baltic Sea. The maneuvers will take place close to the Swedish coast, at the same time as the Russian-Belarusian Zapad 2017 exercises.

At the end of August, military aviation drills began in the Czech Republic, involving military personnel and equipment from 18 NATO member states and partners. They will last until September 12.